Senate President Edith Deleon Guerrero speaks during a Senate session.
SENATE President Edith Deleon Guerrero is requesting the Office of Public Auditor to audit the indirect cost funds that the Office of Grants Management and State Clearinghouse may have used for sub-grants.
Indirect cost money is a portion of the funds that the CNMI, through OGM-SC, receives from the federal government for administrative expenses.
In her letter to acting Public Auditor Dora I. Deleon Guerrero, the Senate president said she has been made aware of an issue pertaining to the use of indirect cost monies received by OGM-SC.
But she specifically wants to ask the acting public auditor about the 20% of OGM-SC’s indirect cost monies which, according to Public Law 19-49, “shall be deposited into a special account for sub-grants.” She said the law also requires OGM-SC to promulgate rules and regulations for awarding sub-grants.
The Senate president said, “if sub-grants have been awarded absent the required regulation, then such grants were issued without any criteria to follow.”
“Based on the foregoing,” she added, “I am requesting your office to audit this matter as public funds may have been utilized improperly.”
Last month, the House of Representatives passed House Bill 23-56 which proposes to tap 60% of the indirect cost revenue to address the CNMI government’s financial deficit. According to the bill, 40% of the indirect cost reimbursements are directed to the Office of Grants Management, and the remaining 60% is not currently directed for any specific program.
